UD experts to discuss Katrina on TV tonight

2:52 p.m., Sept. 2, 2005--Joanne Nigg, professor of sociology and criminal justice and a member of the core faculty in UD’s Disaster Research Center, and Michael Chajes, chairperson of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will discuss the catastrophe caused by Hurricane Katrina and various aspects of the recovery efforts live on WHYY-TV’s Delaware Tonight news broadcast at 5:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 2.

The two experts, who will be joined by Daniel Valle, chief operating officer from the Delmarva chapter of the American Red Cross; Dave Carpenter, emergency planner in the New Castle County Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management; and a representative from Catholic Charities, will appear in the weekly Friday Forum.

Since 1975, Nigg has been involved in research on the societal response to natural, technological and environmental hazards and disasters. She has been a principal or co-principal investigator on more than 20 research projects covering subjects such as hazard, threat, risk awareness and behavioral response by individuals and organizations and attributions of responsibility for disaster outcomes.

Chajes, a registered engineer in Delaware, is an expert in structural engineering, including bridge evaluation and rehabilitation, field testing of structures, application of advanced composite materials, nondestructive evaluation, corrosion detection, earthquake engineering and general structural analysis. He has been involved in field evaluation and testing of major bridges and structures, including the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Goethals Bridge, the Ben Franklin Bridge, the Chesapeake City Bridge, the Summit Bridge, the Canal Lock Gates on the Erie Canal and several historic trusses and polymer composite bridges.

Delaware Tonight is a local news and public affairs program produced by WHYY-TV from the WHYY Delaware Broadcast Center in Wilmington. The program provides the day's news from Delaware and the region, along with in-depth analysis every evening, Monday-Friday.

In addition to the live broadcast, the program is available on the web for a week at [www.whyy.org/tv12/deltonight.html].

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